Martha Booz from May Valley · 8h ago

The meeting was called to order at 7:07 pm on Jan 11, 2017 by Chair George Cleveland. The Council had a quorum, with Barbara Pendergrass, Robin Tanner, James Hermann and Tom Owens present.

After the Pledge of Allegiance, the chair called on Deputy Amy Foster, who was speaking for Lt. Trish England of the Sheriff’s Department for the monthly Sheriff’s Department report. Deputy foster did not have the usual printout of all crime in El Sobrante, but did report that there was a small increase in residential burglaries, and auto burglaries. It did not indicate a trend, however. There have been complaints from the residents of Garden Lane about people blocking driveways while parking to use the library. However, there have been no further complaints about the meth house on Canyon Lane as reported last month. The homeless encampment below the Church of Christ on El Portal is slowly being cleaned up. A crew visited the encampment on Jan 11 to offer shelter and other services.

Officer Lveiste of the CHP reported a decline in abandoned cars on Canyon Lane. Also, there have been speeding problems on San Pablo Dam Road between Milton and Appian Way, so the CHP is focusing on that area. Officer Lveiste reported that 100 speeding tickets had been written in few weeks. He wrote 50 himself. The speeders are mostly not local people, but people traveling through. They are getting 10 new officers, so he will be putting together a task force to hammer on the speed limit in that area, which slows to 25 mph there. Also, some trees were blown down by the storm that week, and the Dam Road was blocked near the reservoir. There are other road damage problem too.

The fire battalion chief did not attend the meeting, so we had no report from him.

James Lyons, from Supervisor Gioia’s office, stated that Supervisor Gioia will be focusing on air quality, as he is on the State Air Resources Control Board. The project at the Library is also of concern to him, as it is dragging on because of the frequent rain storms we have had. James had some flyers for high school students interested in careers in agriculture. I think internships are being offered. Also the County sponsored a celebration for Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 17th. The sulfur smell that was noticed in San Francisco apparently came from the Richmond landfill. It is a regional air quality district issue.

During the public comment period the neighbors on Miflin, which bounds the creeks where the homeless encampment is, complained emphatically, because they did not know their property extended down to the creek. They had no idea they are responsible for the cleanup costs for the removing the encampment. There is an area which has been used as a bathroom facility, which entails the hazardous waste cleanup crew, and the owners do not think it fair for them to bear that cost! The homeless also affect the businesses on the Dam Rd., sleeping in the stairwells, behind Walgreen’s, at JV Liquors, sometimes panhandling pedestrians--the problem seems to be getting bigger. The fence around the church property was breached, and the homeless are stealing from the donations bin the church maintains. The encampment is shifting toward I-80, involving the CHP, the construction company, the code enforcement people and CalTrans, because of the work on the El Portal offramp. There are trees by the creek that need pruning, to make visibility better throughout the area there, but the trees should not be removed, as they hold up the creek bank. Also, surveyors need to be involved to determine the lot lines, and where the property lines go. The homeowners think we need more homeless shelters for West County, so the problem can be resolved. The homeowners were wondering if the Chamber of Commerce could help at all, and also if Richmond City could help. They even have heard gunfire down at the encampment, and they are all very concerned about this ongoing problem.

The last business of the evening was the election of new officers for the year 2017 for the Municipal Advisory Council. Barbara Pendergrass was elected Chair. Tom Owens is the Vice Chair, and Robin is the Secretary.

The year-end report for 2016 shows that MAC meetings were not held 6 times because of the lack of a quorum. Barbara asked George Cleveland to send a letter to Supervisor Gioia, asking him to review the applications that have been submitted, so that we have more Council members and alternates.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:19 pm. I suggest you look at the Agenda posted at http://www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/Archive... for more information. There is detail about the building requests submitted to the Planning and Zoning Committee, as well as the full Year-End Report.

Thank you,
Martha Booz

Shared with May Valley + 21 nearby neighborhoods in General
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Laura Priebe from May Valley · 7h ago

It's very interesting to me that you have asked several times for Supervisor Gioia to review applications. I applied for the MAC many months ago. I even interviewed with the Supervisor and then never heard a word. I believe they interviewed several at that time. Ic he felt I wasn't a good fit, then I should have been told. But to keep having to ask them for people and they haven't supplied seems that it's not a priority to Supervisor Gioia.
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Kim Jerge from Pinole Valley -The Valley · 7h ago

When is the next meeting?
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Martha Booz from May Valley · 4h ago

The next meeting is the 2nd Wednesday, which is Feb 8, 2017.
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